Reblogged from 2013 Okinawa Wakamono Taikai:

We're proud to announce that the 2nd Worldwide Youth Uchinanchu Festival (a.k.a. Wakamono Taikai) will be taking place in Torrance, California, U.S.A. from July 18th through July 21st! We're still in the process of finalizing the program and activities, but we'll post a full schedule as soon as everything is complete. Please continue to visit this website as well as our…

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3rd Eisa Drum Festival at Kapi’olani Community College on May 11th
A Celebration of Okinawan Culture with Drums, Lions, Music, and Karate

Kapi’olani Community College and the Office of Student Activities are pleased to present the third Eisa Drum Festival on Saturday, May 11 from 5:30 to 9 pm, on the Great Lawn (center of campus). The outdoor festival brings together ‘ono food prepared by Kapi’olani CC culinary program and the spectacular art form of taiko performed amid the beauty of Diamond Head under the stars. The program begins at 6 pm. The event is free and open to the public, with ample parking on campus.

Performers include Chinagu Eisa Hawai’i, Hawai’i Okinawa Creative Arts, Hawai’i Taiko Kai, Okinawa Shorin-Ryu Karate and Urizun Minyo Group. This year’s festival also features special guest performers from Okinawa, including Daiichi Hirata, acclaimed producer, choreographer, and musician, as well as members of Requios, the 2012 World Eisa Competition winner.

Eisa is a form of dance and drumming unique to the people of Okinawa. Originally performed as part of a religious function honoring those who have passed, modern Eisa is an exhilarating combination of singing, chanting, dancing and drumming. In Okinawa and Hawai’i, Eisa continues to be performed at Bon Dances. This year’s festival will feature contemporary styles of drumming, with Okinawan taiko, karate, lions, and contemporary folk music.

“The first two festivals have been described as ‘magical’ and we hope to continue that tradition in our third year,” said Shari Tamashiro, Kapi’olani CC Cybrarian, and one of the coordinators of the festival. “We’re also very pleased to have celebrity chef instructor Grant Sato and Kapi’olani CC’s famous culinary program managing the food booths.”

“The bringing together of Island People, Daiichi Hirata from Okinawa and Kawika Napoleon from Hawai’i, was so dynamic. . . it brought forth a sense of joy and pride from within,” said Dorene Niibu of Windard CC.

“When I think of Eisa Fest, I think of it as the first major event of the summer,” said Jonathan Wong, faculty member at Kapi’olani CC. “To me, it signals that summer is here and what better way to start the summer off with a bang than with drums, food, music and stars.”

Enjoy an evening under the stars. Bring lawn chairs to sit on, blankets, and jackets. Up to date information on program, schedule, parking, maps, and food items on sale will be posted at http://www.facebook.com/eisahawaii. Alcohol is strictly prohibited at the event.

To see videos of the 2nd Eisa Festival, go to: http://bit.ly/17quWKz. For photos, go to: http://smu.gs/Z4Mpbj.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 27,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 6 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

This film. Amazing. Following up on a post from about a week ago, today was the HIFF 2012 screening of director Claude Gagnon’s “Karakara.” The director was at the screening so there was an interview and Q&A after the film. First of all, he was surprised that the theatre was packed since he called the 12:00pm screening “early” and although I took a few photos with my iPhone, I later kicked myself for not having recorded audio of the interview and Q&A session. There were some interesting things he said about filming in Okinawa but the thing I’ll share with Karakui.com readers is his mentioning Yukito Ara and how much he admires him and the musician’s ability to create modern music that’s still very much Okinawan. The majority of the soundtrack by Yukito-san is instrumental (his soulful sanshin playing) and a song with vocals (the duo he put together with guitarist Isamu Shimoji called SAKISHIMA meeting) comes at the end credits.

The film was chosen as one of HIFF’s “2012 Film For Thought” and there was a brochure passed out at the entrance to the theatre with a nice write-up by University of Hawaii at Manoa Professor Christine Yano. (If you missed it or want to get your hands on one, HIFF has a PDF version available for download.)

I’ve had the opportunity to watch a large number of films shot in Okinawa and the majority of them have relied heavily on a fantasy aspect of the island so although “magic” was mentioned quite a few times in the film, I was relieved that there was no actual magic taking place. It was also nice seeing a director who wasn’t from mainland Japan film in Okinawa and I feel that it brought about a different perspective than what I’ve been used to (like the before mentioned fantasy aspect). For that reason, I was surprised to find an optimistic ending rather than one of tragedy (I’m trying my best not to have any spoilers of the film so excuse me for being vague). Among many things related to Okinawa, the film does allude to the U.S. military base problem (it’s mentioned that 20% of Okinawa is military bases) but before getting too political, Youki Kudoh’s character (she’s still so beautiful!) says instead to look at the beauty of the island around you as there’s not much two people can do to change things. (Later in the film there’s a bit that mentions filmmaker Michael Moore to bring it to his attention.)

The film will have a second screening tomorrow (Monday, 10/15/12) at HIFF 2012 and I highly recommend it. There doesn’t seem to be an official English-language website for the film — tho there’s mention that it’s in the works — but there is a Japanese-language one. In the meantime, if you’re interested in the film, I think it’s best to follow their Facebook page which is updated regularly.

The Okinawa Association of America, Inc. (OAA) is having its annual Bazaar and Fundraiser event at the OAA Center! Enjoy delicious Okinawan soba, mochi, andagi (the best “Okinawan dango” in town), teriyaki chicken and beef bento, spam musubi, and more!

Get a head-start on your holiday shopping with homemade crafts and OAA merchandise. Visit the vegetable/plant booth for bargain prices. You could get lucky, too, with the raffle drawings for wonderful prizes!

Entertain your kids with face painting, arts and crafts, and our Warabi Eisaa Workshop. Enjoy your lunch with live entertainment from local performers: Okinawan karate, taiko, dance and sanshin, as well as hula, ukulele, and a special Hollywood Samurai presentation!

View OAA’s website for more information: 2012 Bazaar and Fundraiser Schedule/Menu.

(h/t to Joseph K.)

Reblogged from No Frame of Reference:

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Kotoko is the latest film from Japanese auteur and grandmaster of the disturbing, Shin’ya Tsukamoto. In the film, Japanese folk musician Cocco stars as the titular character that sees many people twice, one good the other bad, unable to tell the difference between the imaginary and the real. The film is Tsukamoto’s depiction of mental illness, part collaboration collecting Cocco’s own experiences with nightmares from the legendary directors own imagination.

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Following today’s “filmed in Okinawa” theme, a film titled “Karakara” will be shown on 10/14 and 10/15 at the 2012 HIFF Fall Festival.

From Kururu Vision’s website:

Wishing to find peace of mind, Pierre, a retired professor in his early sixties, ends up making a short, unsettling trip around Okinawa with Junko, a 40-year-old runaway wife. The confused intellectual would rather not get involved with this unlikely and unexpected lover but decides to follow his destiny, wherever it (she?) may take him.

The film was written and directed by Claude Gagnon and stars Gabriel Arcand and Youki Kudoh. What I’m most looking forward to is the film’s soundtrack which is by Yukito Ara of Parsha cluB (my favorite band) and the theme song is by SAKISHIMA meeting.

Say hello if you see me at one of the HIFF shows.

Top indie pop band HY’s “Ichiban Chikaku ni” is the theme song to NHK’s latest asadora “Jun to Ai” which started airing on 10/1/12. The drama is filmed in Miyakojima and is the first since 2001′s popular “Churasan” to be set in Okinawa. “Jun to Ai” stars actress/talento Natsuna as Jun Kano, who dreams of turning her grandfather’s Miyakojima hotel into a “magical place” for visitors, and Ai (Itoshi Machida) is played by Johnny’s Entertainment actor/talento Shunsuke Kazama.

The song will be included in HY’s upcoming original album (the band’s 8th), “PARADE,” to be released on 12/5/12.

Reblogged from Grits and Sushi:

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Please join me for the second installment of Nappy Routes and Tangled Tales in Ginowan at Cafe Cotonoha.  It'll take place at 6:30pm.

Please visit the special event page for more information: gritsandsushi.tumblr.com

The inspiration

One of the problems of communication for people across the fences and especially for mixed people in Okinawa is that there is very little opportunity us to come together in person to share their disparate stories with each other.  

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Reblogged from Grits and Sushi: